ABOUT MY AID

Understanding my aid

Managing my aid

Eligibility

Your eligibility for federal and state aid is based in part on the following considerations. Other considerations may apply. These are the most common items that impact your eligibility. For more information on aid eligibility, visit https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/eligibility.

Degree Program

The degree that you are working on determines, in part, the type of aid you are eligible to receive. Below is a summary of the type of aid you may be eligible for in your current degree program. Other considerations apply, including your Expected Family Contribution, your lifetime loan borrowing limits, your dependency status, and others.

Degree Program	Types of Aid – Federal and State
First Bachelor’s Degree *Note: You must demonstrate financial need for most of these programs	Federal Pell Grant Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (freshmen/sophomores) Federal Work Study Federal Direct Subsidized/Unsubsidized Loans Federal TEACH Grant Federal Parent PLUS Loan Oregon Opportunity Grant
Second Bachelor’s Degree (Post-Baccalaureate Students)	Federal Direct Subsidized Loan Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan
Certificate	Certificate programs (not to be confused with initial teacher licensure programs) are not eligible for federal financial aid
Conditional Admission to Master’s Program	Conditional admits to a master’s program are not eligible for federal financial aid
Master’s Program	Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan Federal Direct Graduate PLUS Loan

Enrollment Level

Undergraduate/Post Bacc	Graduate
Full time = 12+ credits	Full time = 9+ credits
3/4 time = 9 – 11 credits	3/4 time = 7 – 8 credits
1/2 time = 6 – 8 credits	1/2 time = 5 – 6 credits
Less than 1/2 time = 1 – 5 credit(s)	Less than 1/2 time = 1 – 4 credit(s)

Every student is offered financial aid with the assumption that they will be enrolled as a full time student. For undergraduate students, 12 credits is considered full time. For graduate students, 9 credits is considered full time. Your aid will not disburse to you unless you are enrolled full time, or unless you notify us that you will be a less-than-full-time student. Your aid amount may be adjusted based on your less-than-full-time enrollment level. Here is a summary of types of aid and their required enrollment levels:

Type of Aid	Enrollment Level	Amount Proration
Federal Pell Grant Federal TEACH Grant	At least 1 credit	12+ credits = 100% of award 9 – 11 credits = 75% of award 6 – 8 credits = 50% of award 1 – 5 credits = 25% of award
Oregon Opportunity Grant	At least 6 credits *Note: the Office of Student Access and Completion sets eligibility criteria for this award; see their website for more information	12+ credits = 100% of award 6 – 11 credits = 50% of award Less than 6 credits = Ineligible
Federal Direct Subsidized Loan for Undergraduates Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan for Undergraduates Parent PLUS Loan	At least half time (6 credits)	No proration; full amount of awarded loan up to cost of attendance *Graduating seniors’ loans are prorated in their last year based on enrollment level; ask the Financial Aid Office for more details
Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan for Graduates Graduate PLUS Loan	At least half time (5 credits)	No proration; full amount of awarded loan up to cost of attendance
Federal Work Study Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant	At least 6 credits	No proration; total aid may not exceed Cost of Attendance
WOU Tuition Remissions (including, but not limited to, WOU Grant, Presidential Scholarship, and Diversity Commitment Scholarship)	Full time enrollment at WOU	Total awards of remission may not exceed actual tuition and fees charged

Census Date

Your eligibility for all types of federal, state, and institutional aid is based on your enrollment level as of the Census Date of every term. The Financial Aid Census Date at WOU is always the second Friday of each academic term. Your enrollment level at 5pm on that date will be the enrollment level upon which we base your financial aid for that term, regardless of whether you add or drop courses after that date.

Complete Withdrawals

If you completely withdraw from all courses (including community college courses), at any point in the term, your financial aid could be retroactively canceled—in full or in part—based on the date you withdraw. Being granted a Medical Withdrawal does not change your financial aid eligibility; withdrawals for any reason are treated equally for financial aid purposes. Students who did not participate beyond the 60% point in the term have not earned all their aid and a portion will be canceled.

Unofficial Withdrawals

You are considered to have unofficially withdrawn from a term if you do not earn any credits in that term and you did not completely withdraw from all courses. Unofficial withdrawals (zero earned credits) can result from any combination of the following grades: W, X, F or NC. Unofficial withdrawals are treated as complete withdrawals and are subject to having your aid retroactively canceled based on the date you last academically participated in all your courses. You will be required to prove that your academic participation beyond the 60% point in the term in order to earn all your aid for that term.

F, X, W, and NC Grades

If you are a Federal Pell Grant recipient, we evaluate your completed courses at the end of each term to verify that you “earned” the level of enrollment of Pell Grant you received. This means that if you received a full-time Pell Grant payment, you must earn 12 credits for that term; three-quarter-time Pell Grant payment in a term means you must earn 9 credits, etc. If you receive an F, X, W, or NC grade for a course and your earned credits for a term do not equal the enrollment level at which you were awarded the Pell Grant, you must prove that you participated in the class that you did not earn credit for in order to keep the full amount of Pell Grant you received. To prove participation in a class in order to keep your full Pell Grant amount for that term, complete our Documentation of Attendance form found in our Document Library.

Repeated Coursework

If you are repeating a course for which you received an F, X, W or NC as a grade, you may receive financial aid for the repetition of that course. If you are repeating a course for which you received credit (A, B, C, D, or P), you may receive financial aid for the repetition of that course only once.

Conflicting Information

Federal law requires us to resolve any conflicting information that we have. For instance, if you report on your FAFSA® that you will be in your 3^rd year of undergraduate studies (as defined by earning 90 credits or more) but you have only earned 85 credits—even if you have attended for 2 years and will be entering your 3^rd year of study—this is considered conflicting information. We would change your grade level from what you reported on your FAFSA® and your actual grade level would determine your aid eligibility. Another example of conflicting information is if your parents report that they are married on the FAFSA® but their tax filing status is Single or Head of Household. This is considered to be conflicting information. We would reach out to you for more information and may require you to amend your taxes to accurately reflect your parents’ marital status before we package you for aid.

Satisfactory Academic Progress

You must make satisfactory progress toward your degree to receive financial aid. For full details on our SAP policy, visit Satisfactory Academic Progress for Undergraduate Students / Graduate students.

Please note that Satisfactory Academic Progress Standards for financial aid eligibility purposes is different than WOU’s Academic Standing. Please see Academic Advising’s informational page on Academic Standing: https://dev.wou.edu/advising/academic-standing/.